Kim, Noguchi enter Int’l Futures Tennis final

ISLAMABAD: Favourites made it to the men’s singles final of the Serena ITF Futures Tennis Tournament at the PTF Complex here in a contrasting style.

Top seed Cheong-Eui Kim (KOR) earned a place in the final without putting a foot on the court as his opponent Ti Chen (Chinese Taipei) withdrew with backache while second seed Rio Noguchi (JPN) had to gather all his reserves to beat seventh seed Alexis Canter (GBR) 6-4,3-6,6-3.

Yet again Canter was seen getting engaged in three-set match but ending up losing.Rio Noguchi was too aggressive from the baseline making Canter run for every point.

After losing the first set, Canter fought back well in the second, unleashing some sizzling serves to unsettle the Japanese player. Rio Noguchi was seen at his best in the third where he make Canter struggle for each point.

The pair of Darko Jandric (Srb)/Shonigmatjon Shofayziyev (Uzb) beat Anton Chekhov (Rus)/Kai Wehnelt (Ger) 4-6 6-4 to make it to the final of doubles event.The duo will take on Cheong-Eui Kim (Kor)/Rio Noguchi (Jpn). The pair beat Alexander Pavlioutchenkov (Rus)/Vladimir Polyakov (Rus) [4-6, 6-1,10-4.

Doubles final will be played on Saturday with men’s singles final to be played Sunday. Results: Men’s singleS: Cheong-Eui Kim (Kor) Walkover Ti Chen (Tpe); Rio Noguchi (Jpn) bt Alexis Canter (Gbr) 6-4 3-6 6-3.

Men’s doubles main round (semifinals): Darko Jandric (Srb)/Shonigmatjon Shofayziyev (Uzb) bt Anton Chekhov (Rus)/Kai Wehnelt (Ger) 4-6,6-4 [10-5]; Cheong-Eui Kim (Kor)/Rio Noguchi (Jpn) bt Alexander Pavlioutchenkov (Rus)/Vladimir Polyakov (Rus) 4-6,6-1,10-4.

Meanwhile, Sara Mansoor and Sarah Mahboob made it to the final of ladies singleS of the Serena National ladies and junior event being played simultaneously at the PTF Complex.

Sara Mansoor beat Hania Navaid 6-2, 6-1 while Sarah Mahboob showed no mercy for Esha Jawad during her 6-2, 6-2 victory.Other results: Boys singles u-18 (quarterfinals): Nauman Aftab bt Abdullah Adnan 6-3,7-5; Ahmed Kamil bt M.Abdullah 6-2,7-5; Uzair Khan bt Hamza Roman 6-2,6-2.

Boys singles u-14 (quarter-finals): Sami Zeb bt Bilal Asim 6-1,6-2; Uzair Khan bt Hamza Roman 6-2, 6-2; Abdul Hanan bt Huzaima Abdul Rehman 6-1, 6-3; M.Huzaifa Khan bt Kashan Umar 6-1,6-2.